Monmouth Poll: Booker holding a 13 point lead

Lonegan team says it’s a single digit race

With two weeks left in the special election campaign for U.S. Senate, Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s lead over former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan in down to 13 points, from 16 points in August, according to a Monmouth University poll of likely voters released this morning.

Despite holding his lead within the margins of error in the Monmouth polls, Booker’s favorability rating has taken a 20 point hit since August.  The percentage of those who view Booker favorably dropped 7% while those who view him unfavorably increased by 13%.

Lonegan’s overall favorability rating declined 4%.  35% said they view Lonegan favorably, up from 31% in August.  28% said they viewed Lonegan unfavorably, up 8% since August.

Lonegan’s name recognition has jumped 11% since August when 49% said they had no opinion of him.  38% said they have no opinion of him in today’s survey.

Booker has widened his lead with Independent voters from 2% in August to 6% today.  Monmouth Polling Director Patrick Murray said this figure is statistically insignificant.

Lonegan has shored up his support among Republicans a bit.  83% of Republican likely voters say they will vote for Lonegan, up from 79% in August.  14% of Republicans said they would vote for Booker, down from 16% in August.

Lonegan’s strategist and pollster Rick Shaftan says his man is down by only 6%, 48-42.   Shaftan thinks Booker’s shallow support in his base will translate into a lower turnout among Democratic voters than Republcans and conservatives. “Maybe I’m undercounting African-Americans who I have at 8% of the turnout,”Shaftan said,  “I know others expect more.  I do not.”  Shaftan said that the African-American vote was 12% of the turnout in last year’s election in New Jersey.

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Rising polls boost Lonegan campaign in Senate race against Booker

Rising polls boost Lonegan campaign in Senate race against Booker (via NJ.com)

BOGOTA — Steve Lonegan was 35 points down to Newark Mayor Cory Booker a few weeks ago, but having a good time. His campaign for the U.S. Senate seemed a desultory sort of affair, not far removed from the kind he ran when he would go house to house…

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The Big Lie: “You can keep it”

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Lonegan: “I’m blind. That’s not your problem”

Ben Dworkin, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, introduces U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan. September 24, 2013

GOP nominee for U.S. Senate Steve Lonegan took a break from bashing Newark Mayor Cory Booker and ObamaCare last night, and gently assaulted the psyches of the young Democratic students of Rider University in attendance at the University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics Governing New Jersey presentation.

Lonegan’s personal story of raising a family and building a business in the 1980’s while going blind, was the context he set up to espouse his Libertarian philosophy and policies to the group of about 100 (mostly students) attending the event.

The Federal Reserve Bank’s quantitative easing policy of pumping $85 billion per month into the economy and keeping interest rates at record lows, was the focus of Lonegan’s remarks as he urged students to “play the hand you’re dealt” in life and avoid becoming dependent on government to solve their own, and society’s problems.

Lonegan shared how as a young man, he rejected a life of “being destined to the entitlement state”, of being sustained by disability benefits and food stamps, in order to build a successful life.  “Interest rates were 10-12 percent in the 80’s, yet I was able to build a successful business and employ a lot of people, ” the candidate said, “I couldn’t do that with today’s regulations and economic policies.”

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Quinnipiac Poll: Lonegan Within 12 Points Of Booker

Booker has not made a public appearance in New Jersey since September 15

Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Steve Lonegan has gained significant ground over the last two weeks in his quest to replace the late Frank Lautenberg in Washington, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released this morning.

Democratic nominee, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, leads Lonegan among likely voters by 12 points,, 53%-41%, with three weeks to go before the October 16 special election.

Booker had a 35% lead over Lonegan in an August 7 poll of registered voters.

In a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll two weeks ago of likely voters, Booker was leading Lonegan by 35%.

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Lonegan pokes fun at Booker with red carpet affair in Newark

Lonegan pokes fun at Booker with red carpet affair in Newark (via NJ.com)

NEWARK — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan glided up the red carpet, his wife at his side, and posed as the flash bulbs popped tonight. Then Lonegan, the former mayor of Bergen County’s Bogota, walked inside a Newark restaurant, into…

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Lonegan To Hold Red Carpet Fundraiser In Newark Tonight

Cory Booker is in Hollywood tonight where Jason Bourne and Batman are holding a big ticket fundraiser for the Superhero wannabe Senator.

GOP nominee Steve Lonegan is answering by holding a Red Carpet fundraiser in Newark, featuring stars from New Jersey — everyday people that make New Jersey a great place to live.

What: A Night with the Stars of New Jersey

 When: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

 Where: Kings Family Restaurant

557 Clinton Avenue

Newark, NJ 07108

 Guests will be wearing some of the latest styles from:

• Faded Glory
• Hanes
• Old Navy
• Levi’s

• And more!

Listen to Lonegan’s radio ad here.

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Speaking to parties’ bases, Booker and Lonegan propose unlikely ideas

Speaking to parties’ bases, Booker and Lonegan propose unlikely ideas (via NJ.com)

Democrat Cory Booker wants to reinstate a federal ban on assault rifles, give $400 a year to poor kids for college funds and pass comprehensive climate-change legislation. Republican Steve Lonegan wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, end the Federal…

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Steve Lonegan praises Rahm Emanuel, bashes Cory Booker in Jersey City

Steve Lonegan praises Rahm Emanuel, bashes Cory Booker in Jersey City (via NJ.com)

JERSEY CITY — Steve Lonegan was hoping to scrap with Rahm Emanuel in Jersey City. Instead he ended up complimenting him — sort of. “I want to commend Rahm Emanuel,” Lonegan said, standing outside of the downtown restaurant where Emanuel and…

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Alert the Media! Buono’s Vulgar Tweet

UPDATE: StarLedger Covers Buono’s Vulgarity. Buono campaign defends her vulgarity and tweets it again.

David Turner, a spokesman for Buono, said the accident was not re-tweeting the remark but removing it. The campaign then re-tweeted it again.

Shortly after the House of Representatives voted to defund ObamaCare this afternoon, Barbara Buono’s gubernatorial campaign took a break from exploiting suffering Superstorm Sandy victims and took to twitter with the following:

(h/t SaveJersey)

As you can see, the adults in the Buono camp had the tweet deleted within fifteen minutes of it going up.

Buono only has 5,912 twitter followers (compared to 400,879 following Governor Christie).  More people will see Buono’s tweet here on MMM and at SaveJersey than ever would have seen it on twitter, even if the adults hadn’t deleted it.

Until I hear it from Buono’s mouth myself or until someone I trust tells me they heard such vulgarity from Buono personally, I don’t believe the tweet represents a lack on class on her part.  I assume it was done by a young stupid silly over zealous intern or staffer who thought it was funny.

What interests me about the tweet is the evident media double standard it exposes.

Remember when a Lonegan campaign staffer made a stupid silly tweet last month during a Democratic U.S. Senatorial debate? That tweet was deleted in less than 15 minutes. Yet the New Jersey and New York media made such a big deal about that many people became upset that they missed the Democratic debate.     If it weren’t for the stink the New Jersey and New York mainstream media made over the stupid @Lonegan tweet as they were attempting to make the Republican Senatorial candidate look like a racist, most people wouldn’t have know there was a Senatorial primary on the Tuesday after the tweet.

I checked PolitickerNJ, NJ.com (The Star Ledger), NorthJersey.com (The Record), and APP.com (The Asbury Park Press).  Nothing about Buono’s vulgar tweet has been reported.

Come on now, my friends in the mainstream media, do your jobs.  Take Buono off message and make her explain the tweet. You’ll probably be doing her a favor, because no one is listening to her message otherwise.

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